Electric railway



(No Model.)

R. M. HUNTER. ELBGTRIG RAILWAY.

No. 403,754. Patented .May 21 1889'.

FiGTZ..

WITNESSES: INVENTORZ N PETERS. Pholmhagmpher. wnhmgmn, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RUDOLPH M. HUNTER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 403,754, dated May 21;1889.

Original application filed February-17, 18%, Serial No. 192.187. Dividedand application filed September 13, 1888, Serial No.

285,295. .Again divided and this application filed April 8, 1889. SerialNo. 306,397. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH M. HUNTER, of the city and county ofPhiladelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement inElectric Railways, (Oase 93,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference to electric railways; and it consists ofcertain improvements', all of which are fully set forth in the followingspecication, and shown in the accompanying drawings, which form partthereof.

This application (Case 93) is a division of my application, Serial No.285,295, filed September 13, 1888, which in turn was a division of myapplication, Serial No. 192,187,1iled February 17, 1886.

The objects of my invention are, first, to arrange the rails of astraight railway on different levels and place the conduit containingthe working-conductors next to the highest rail, so that the water andslush shall run away from the conduit and also be out of the line oftravel of the horses; second, to provide a car with wheels of equaldiameter and adapted to run upon a railway with rails on differentlevels, and in which the body ofthe car shall be horizontal; third, toprovide the car with an improved device for taking the electric currentfrom the working-conductors within the conduit; fourth, to provide animproved form of brush to take electricity from the working-conductor,which shall be capable of running either way and compensate for wear;fifth, to provide an electric railway having a slotted conduitcontaining the bared working-conductors with a depending frame from theelectric motor, in which the said frame passes through the slot andcontains conductors insulated from the frame and from the sides of theslot, and receive the current from the bared conductors; sixth, toprovide, in an electric railway, a motor with cut-out devices carried bythe car to cut out the motor without breaking the continuity of theline-current.

The foregoing are the essential objects of invention, and of necessitycomprehend objects of minor importance incident to the details ofconstruction.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a cross-section of road-bed and car,showing arrangement of conduit. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of' thebrush-holding mechanism. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of same on linefr Fig. 2.

The system for which my improvements in the motor-connections are welladapted is the cludes the motors in series-such as set out in myapplication,SerialNo.1 99,187, referred tobut may be used with themotors in parallel or otherwise. The positive and negative conductorsare arranged parallel to each other and to the track.

B and 'C are the two working-conductors, the current passing fromconductor B through the motor to conductor C.

The railway may be constructed as described; but in this application Iwill set out a construction of road-bed particularly adapted to wetclimates.

Referring to Fig. l, M is t e roadway, and is slightly inclined, onerail, 1I', being higher than the other rail, N, so that all Water willrun from the upper rail toward the lower rail. If the streets havedouble tracks, then the highest rail of the other track would be next tothe rail N', so that the roadway slopes from the center to the sides.(See Fig. 1.) Supporting the upper rail, N', I provide aconduit-casting, O, in which the positive and negative baredworkingconductors B C are secured, and said conduit is provided with alongitudinal slot, d, arranged in its upper part. It must be borne inmind that I do not claim raising one rail higher than the other,broadly, as that is done in all railways on curves to overcomecentrifugal force; but I do deem it broadly novel when applied tostraight roads with the objects in View. The car-body Q is preferablyhorizontal; but the truck is supported at the same incline as theroad-bed, as shown in Fig. l, as it is necessary to have the wheels ofthe car of the same diameter. In practice this incline would be small,and is exaggerated in the drawings. Suitable thrustseries system, inwhich the line-current inboxes, p, might be used to take the thrust ofthe car-body upon the upper ends of the axles. The conduits maybe of anysuitable construction, and it is evident that the slots thereof might beupon the outside of the tracks so TOO long as the conduitsv are close oradjacent to the rails ot' the two tracks which are nearest together.

R is the motor-frame, and is carried by the axles P, and is providedwith a guide-box, r, directly under one of the axles. Guided laterallyand loosely in this guide-bex is the slide s, to which is secured thevertical frame S, which extends down through the slot 19 and carriest-he brushes.

T are guide-wheels having hubs, the thin portions of the peripheriesrunning in the slot d, and these wheels are arranged one in front andone in the rear of the frame S, insuring it from scraping on the sidesof the slot and also keepingthe slot open. These wheels T may alsosupport the collector against downward movement. To the bottom of theframe S are secured the arms U, which are insulated from each other andfrom the frame, and said arms have hinged to them the brush-holders V,which preferably point in opposite directions and are pressed toward theconductors C D by springs u, and their movements toward the conductorsare limited by stops c. The holders V have their ends curved so as torun in either direction, and have slots through which the contact stripsor brushes V pass and are clamped by the screws V2. t

Projecting down from t-he frame S at its upper part and extendingthrough the slot b 'of the conduit, between the wheels T and thevertical part of the frame S, are the tubes or conductor-guards q, ofany desired shape, through which the insulated conductors W pass, andwhich conductors are connected to the arms U or their brushes and conveythe current to the motor on the car. The 4wheels T and frame S willprevent undue Wear coming upon the tubes at their parts adjacent to theslot of the conduit. These conductors W pass up to the motor X, carriedby the car, and have their continuity broken and. their ends terminatingin contact-pieces w. A circuit-controller lever, Y, havingcontact-plates k and Z, works over said contact-pieces w, so that themotor may be connected with the working-conductors by bringing theplates 7c 7c over the contact-pieces w, bridging the breaks in the wiresXV, or by shifting the plate l so as to connect the two pieces w of thecon-y ductors away from the motor. The motor may be cut out and thecontinuity of the lincseries circuit be maintained.

The collecting devices may be of any suitable construction whenconsidering -my invention broadly with reference to the conduits. Whenthe collector travels in any irregularity of the slot, it slideslaterally in its guide on the axles and compensates for suchirregularity.

The conductors B C may be secured to the walls of the conduit in any wayas to secure insulation; and these Walls, if desired, may be providedwith insulated coverings b, into or upon which the conductors aresecured.

Vhile I prefer the construction shown, Ido not limit myself to thedetails thereof, as they may be modified in various ways withoutdeparting from my invention, and I wish it to be understood that anymatters herein shown or set out, and not claimed, are vnot dedicated tothe public, but form subj ect-matter of other applications, to wit:Serial No. 74,363, of 1882; No. 171,625, of 1885; No. 200,400, of 1886;No. 215,200, of 1886, and No. 268,360; No. 293,665, of 1888; No.296,292, of 1889; and 285,295, of 1888, of which this is a division.

Having now described my invention, what Iclaim as new,and'desire tosecure byLetters Patent, is-

1. A road-bed for an electric railway in which one rail is higher thanthe other and the roadway between the rails is inclined, in combinationwith an electric conductor arranged at or near the higher rail,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. A road-bed for an electric railway in which one rail is higher thanthe other and the roadway between the rails is inclined, in combinationwith a slotted conduit arranged at or near the higher rail,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. A road-bed for an electric railway in which one rail is higher thanthe other and the roadway between the rails is inclined, in combinationwith a slotted conduit arranged at or near the higher rail and twoworkingconductors supported within said conduit, substantially as andfor the purpose specified.

4. A road-bed for an electric railway in which one rail is higher thanthe other and the roadway between the rails is inclined, in combinationwith a slotted conduit arranged at or near the higher rail and twosectional working-conductors supported within said conduit,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

5. A road-bedmfor an electric railway in which one rail Ais higher thanthe other, in combination'with a'car having a horizontal body and aninclined truck or axles and wheels, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

l6. A road-bed for an electric railway in which one rail is higher thanthe other and the roadway betweenthe rails is inclined, in combinationwith a slotted conduit arranged at or near the higher rail, twoworking-conductors carried within said conduit, a car having inclinedwheels and axles and a .horizontal car-body, a frame suspended from thecar and projecting down through the slot of the conduit, and brushescarried by said frame to connect with the conductors in the conduit,

`substantially as and for the purpose specified.

7. A road-bed for an electric railway in which one rail is higher thanthe other and the roadway between the rails is inclined, in combinationwith a car having a horizontal body and an inclined truck or axles andwheels, positive and negative working-conductors arranged at the highestend of the IOO IIO

road-bed, and a connection between the car and said conductors to conveyelectricity to the motor on the car, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

S. The combination of a slotted conduit, working conductors containedtherein, a frame provided with two guide-rollers to run in the slot andguide the frame, depending tubes arranged between and close to saidrollers and projecting through the slot, and insulated conductorspassing through said pipes or tubes and having electrical contacts withthe working-conductors, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

9. The combination of a slotted conduit, working conductors containedtherein, a frame projecting down through the slot of the conduit andprovided with two guide-rollers to run in the slot and guide the frame,brushes carried by said frame to form electrical contacts with saidworking-conductors, depending conductor-guards arranged between andclose to said rollers and projecting through the slot, andinsulating-conductors passing through said guards and having electricalcontacts with the working-conductors, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

10. A brush for an electric railway, consisting of a curved arm tofreely move in'either direction over the conductor, and a holder tocontain contact-strips or wearing-pieces arranged through the holder atthe point of contact to compensate for wear, substantially as and forthe purpose specified.

11. The brush-arm V, made with a curved end, in combination with thewearing-pieces V to project through said arm at its place of contactwith the conductor, and clampingscrew V2, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

12. In an electric railway, two sectional working-conductors, incombination with a traveling motor electrically connected therewith, anda pair of brushes or contacts connecting the motor with the conductors,the said brushes being arranged one in front or in advance of the other,substantially as and for the purpose specitied.

13. In an electric railway, the combination of two working-conductorshaving vertical workingaces, a traveling electric motor or locomotive, abrush-holder carried by said motor, and two brushes having verticalfaces carried by said holder, and adapted to press one in contact witheach of said working-conductors, substantially as and for the purposespeciiied.

14. The combination, with an electric locomotive, of a slot-ted conduit,and two conductors extending from said locomotive into said conduit inline with each other, and each having an independent connection with thelocomotive, whereby each may be movable about a vertical axis.

15. The combination of a slotted conduit containing theworking-conductors of an electric railway with a car, a frame dependingfrom said car capable of lateral movement relative to the vehicle, and acontact device movable on a vertical axis extending from said frame andtaking current from the conductors within the conduit.

16. In an electric railway, the combination of two line or workingconductors from which the motors receive current, anelectricallypropelled vehicle having an electric motor, a motor-circuitthereon connecting with said line-conductors, and a switch to cut outthe motor and complete the line-circuit through the car.

17. The combination of two railway parallel tracks having their adjacentrails higher than the others, with an electric conduit for each trackarranged adjacent to the highest rail in each track, and an electricconductor in each conduit. A

18. In an electric railway, the combination of a car-body supported onsprings, an electric motor, power-transmitting connections between themctar and axle, a source of electric supply, a reversing-switch on andmoving with the car-body, flexible conductors between thereversing-switch and motor, and a frame carried by the axle independentof the car-body to support the motor.

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

RUDOLPH M. HUNTER.

Witnesses:

ERNEST HOWARD HUNTER, E. M. BRECKINREED.

